Mental and Behavioral Disorders in the Civilian Population of Regions Affected by Local Warfare

• Main Authors: Natalia M. Zakharova, Marina G. Tsvetkova
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Moscow State University of Psychology and Education 2020-12-01
• Series: Психология и право
• Subjects: local warfare; local conflicts; mental and behavioral disorders in civilian population and refugees; "children of war"
• Online Access: https://psyjournals.ru/psyandlaw/2020/n4/Zakharova_Tsvetkova.shtml

Currently an acute and persistent problem for humanity is participation in military activities, including local conflicts which oftentimes involve activities of radical organizations. Shooting, shelling, bombing, taking hostages, forceful retention, which provide imminent threat to the lives and well-being of people, belong to the most significant psychologically traumatic factors of modern life. The article looks into the consequences of the negative impact of the distress which civilians and refugees (including children) have gone through. Not infrequently these negative consequences lead to deterioration in the quality of life, development of pathological personality traits, social maladaptation, emergence of co-morbid mental and somatic diseases. In the number of the studies we analyzed it is emphasized that massive negative impact on the mental health from the multiple traumatizing factors turns out to be more devastating in the long run than it is in the beginning. Therefore, the following becomes critically important: the earliest possible detection of mental and behavioral disorders in the victims, preventive treatment of their post-stress disorders at the remote stages of the traumatic experience as well as their complete and timely rehabilitation and reintegration into society.